Irish Daily Mail

GUILTY: MOLLY TAKEN AWAY IN CHAINS

Jason Corbett’s family break down in tears as Molly and Tom Martens are convicted of his murder

- From Catherine Fegan in North Carolina

HOW A TRANSATLAN­TIC LOVE AFFAIR ENDED IN MURDER

JASON Corbett’s family broke down in tears yesterday... on a dramatic day that saw his widow and her father found guilty of killing him, sentenced to up to 25 years in prison – and eventually led away in chains for his brutal killing.

Finally free to express themselves openly, the Corbetts told of the pain inflicted on them by Molly and Tom Martens.

In one powerful hand-written victim impact statement, Jason’s ten-year-old son Jack said Molly ‘would be remembered as a murderer’. He added that the burden she had put on him and his family would not be lifted until she was ‘put away’. Jason was beaten to death inside his family home in Wallburg, North Carolina.

Molly, 33, collapsed into tears when the jury found her and her 67-year-old father, a former FBI agent, guilty of the second-degree murder of her Limerick husband on August 2, 2015. Sobbing, she turned to her family in the public gallery and said: ‘I’m really sorry Mom. I wish he’d [referring to Jason] have killed me.’ She and her father were sentenced to a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of 25 years. But with good behaviour they could be out up to seven years earlier.

Under US criminal law, second-degree murder means intentiona­l but unpremedit­ated killing. Two jurors had changed their view on Molly’s guilt after ‘having a night to sleep on it,’ the foreman revealed, according to the Irish Times last night. Speaking after the sentencing, Tom Aamland said it was not an easy decision for two of the jurors. He said: ‘We were confident in one of the defendants, but we had more [difficulty] with the other.’

Speaking outside court, Jason’’s sister Tracey Lynch said the Corbetts will do all they can to ‘stick up for Jason’s memory’. She thanked jurors for vindicatin­g him.

The jury, three men and nine women, took just under fourand-a-half hours to deliver their verdicts, which were unanimous, as is required under US law. Ms Lynch was joined by her husband, David, another sister, Marilyn, and brother Michael as well as a large group of Jason’s friends.

‘On the 2 of August, 2015, my niece and nephew were made orphans in a brutal, merciless killing,’ she said. ‘My parents lost their child and I lost the most wonderful brother and friend. Jason was unarmed, he was struck when he was lying down in the middle of the night. Two people battered him until he was dead and then battered him even more. One of them swung a heavy metal baseball bat at Jason, one of them used a brick – a brick that had been on her nightstand. When we sat through the evidence, we found those details so unbelievab­le. Who keeps a brick on their nightstand?’

Earlier, there were tense scenes inside Courtroom C when a knock came from jurors at 11.30am local time. As news filtered through that jurors had reached a verdict, the Martens and Corbett families

‘Brutal, merciless killing’

rushed in. Members of the jury were asked to stand as the clerk read the guilty verdicts.

Molly Martens collapsed on the table in tears and started to sob. Her father, Tom, appeared stunned. In the front row, sitting behind the prosecutio­n, the Corbett family embraced and began to cry.

On the other side of the room, Molly’s mother, Sharon, burst into tears and was consoled by her son, Connor, also crying.

As defence lawyers requested a 15-minute recess before sentencing, Sheriff David Grice moved in to place handcuffs on both Molly and her dad.

During a brief sentencing hearing, Tracey Lynch read a statement on behalf of the Corbett family. She said Jason’s death had changed the course of his children’s lives forever.

A handwritte­n letter from ten-year-old Jack Corbett was read by tearful prosecutor Alan Martin. ‘I will never be able give him [my dad] a hug or give him a present or a Father’s Day card,’ wrote Jack. ‘He won’t see me grow from a kid to a teenager and into my adult life.’

Before Judge David Lee handed down his sentences, both defendants offered evidence of ‘prior character’.

Tom Martens’s brother-inlaw, Mike Earnest, described him as a ‘wonderful husband’ and great father. He said he had served his country for more than 30 years and had raised ‘four outstandin­g children’.

Tom Martens said he had no comment to make.

Taking the stand to give evidence on behalf of Molly Martens, her friend Shannon Grubb described her as a great mother and friend. ‘This is not who she is,’ she said.

When Molly Martens was asked if she had any comment to make, she sobbed uncontroll­ably and said she was ‘not a murderer.’ She said: ‘I did not murder my husband. My father did not murder my husband… the incidents that happened on that night happened on a somewhat regular basis only this time my father was there… maybe I shouldn’t have screamed… now my children will lose both parents.’

Ms Martens cried out and collapsed in her attorney’s arms as Judge Lee sentenced her to 20-to-25 years in prison. Immediate appeals were lodged by attorney’s for both parties.

Both were later transferre­d to the Department of Correction­s in Raleigh. They had pleaded not guilty at Davidson County Court in Lexington, North Carolina, claiming self-defence and the defence of another.

A voluntary manslaughe­r charge was included as a lesser charge for the jury to consider. Ms Martens decided not to testify while her father alleged he acted in self-defence, claiming he saw Jason with his hands around his daughter’s neck. Ms Martens was the main beneficiar­y of a $600,000 life insurance policy on her husband.

Jason, who had been working in his garden, had enjoyed about six or seven beers with a neighbour on his front lawn earlier that Saturday evening. His parents-in-law, Thomas and Sharon, arrived for an unexpected visit that evening.

The father and daughter claimed they killed Jason in self defence. However, Assistant District Attorneys Greg Brown, Alan Martin and Ina Stanton said Jason was first struck when he was in bed.

‘Details were unbelievab­le’

 ??  ??
 ??  ?? Convicted: Killer Tom Martens
Convicted: Killer Tom Martens
 ??  ?? Victim: Limerick man Jason Corbett
Victim: Limerick man Jason Corbett
 ??  ?? Guilty: Tom Martens shook his head in disbelief as the verdict was given
Guilty: Tom Martens shook his head in disbelief as the verdict was given

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